Sassy pickled onion using cardamom - cinnamon tea in the pickling juice.
The earthy onion isn’t known for her subtlety. Unwrap her papery robe, and slice her open, if you doubt this. She’s a woman of many moods, though. Invite her to join some warm oil in a sauté pan, and watch her melt into the moist warmth, and taste the mellow, savory depth she adds to dishes.
Throw her butt-naked into a bean salad, and she packs crisp heat.
But get her pickled, and she really lets loose. Once she dips into a pickle juice party thrown in a hot tub, she quickly morphs into a tart trying to shock everyone around her with too much make-up, wearing purple silk hot pants trimmed in fur, and talking too loudly. She doesn’t care if you like her, or find her a little over the edge. Go find a boring pilaf if you want something safe. She wants to be noticed, to stand out. She drapes herself around everyone at the party drinking in the pickling juices, and just wants to be remembered.
Seriously, pickled onions are a great addition to dishes that you want to add a little jolt to, like these arepas rellenos. And it only takes about 30 minutes to do it!
There a wide variety of pickling juices out there that you can easily make in your own kitchen, and I actually added some loose tea from my favorite tea from The Republic of Tea to this one with huge success. So have some fun and see what riff on a pickling juice you can do. The only "rules" are that most pickling juices will include some kind of vinegar, sugar, water, and spices.
Pickled Onions in Cardamom-Cinnamon Tea
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unseasoned rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon Cardamom Cinnamon Tea
- 1 yellow onion thinly sliced
Instructions
- In a small pot over medium heat, or in the microwave oven, heat up the vinegar to almost a simmer. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the onion slices. Remove from the heat.
- Place the onion slices in a jar with a lid. Pour the pickling juices over the onions so that they are submerged. Place the lid on it the jar and allow to sit for 30 minutes.
Rita
my my I love your writing, Susan!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Smiling here.
lizthechef
Oh, I love this - and it is a very "Susan" recipe - meaning creative, delicious and healthy -
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks so much Liz!
apuginthekitchen
I love pickled onions but never in a MILLION years would have thought to use tea in the pickling juice. Brilliant and delicious!! I like onions cooked, not raw unless pickled, this is right up my alley.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I think you might really like this. It's so easy, I'm not sure why I hadn't thought about doing this before!!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks so much Suzanne!!
mjskit
What a great pickled onion! I love the use of the cardamom-orange tea. That's so smart! I love adding pickled onion to salads, sandwiches and some rice dishes, but I've never made then like this. I will definitely have to try this. Thanks!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I really recommend it. Now I'm going to be trying other teas too 🙂
Julia
I loooove pickled onions! There's a restaurant where I live that puts pickled onions on my favorite salad and it really sets the whole thing off. Now I can make them at home...yum!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Oh nice! I just put them today on a kale salad and it worked great 🙂
Hannah
I really enjoyed this post, Susan! What a creative way to pickle onions, too. So unique and delicious!